BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? European Union governments agreed on Friday to expand the number of Syrian officials and institutions targeted by EU sanctions and laid out plans for a possible oil embargo, EU diplomats said.
The moves against Syria's government reflect a significant stepping up of pressure against President Bashar al-Assad by the EU and the United States, in response to violence against protesters contesting the four-decade rule of Assad's family.
The United States and the EU, along with the governments of Britain, France and Germany, called on Thursday for Assad to step down. Major states had until then urged him to reform rather than leave.
However, the EU appeared to move with more caution than Washington, which coupled Thursday's calls with a ban on U.S. citizens from operating in or investing in Syria and a prohibition against U.S. imports of Syrian oil products.
At a meeting in Brussels, EU ambassadors agreed to add 15 people and five institutions to a list of entities already targeted by EU asset freezes or travel bans. The new lists will be subject to formal approval early next week.
They also asked the bloc's diplomatic service, the EEAS, to prepare plans for further measures.
"Ambassadors invited the EEAS and the European Commission to develop options for further sanctions ... notably a potential oil embargo," one diplomat said.
NEW STEPS
The EU's 27 governments have already subjected 35 individuals, including Assad, to asset freezes and visa bans and targeted military-linked firms tied to the suppression of dissent.
New plans could include companies linked to the regime, not only those involved in repression, EU diplomats said. They could target banking and telecommunications, as well as oil.
Europe has taken an incremental approach to Syrian sanctions in recent months, with some EU governments concerned about harming their commercial interests and long-term relations with the government.
Firms like Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total are significant investors in Syria.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said there were very strong reasons for an oil embargo.
"What one always has to put in the balance is to make sure it doesn't hit ordinary people to a too large extent," he said.
"In the situation in which we are now, it is important to send the strongest possible signal."
(Additional reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Editing by Rex Merrifield)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110819/wl_nm/us_syria_eu
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